They did develop an early bad reputation in the UK, which was probably undeserved. One of the first readily available kitplanes, a lot of people were getting straight out of standard club trainers and into Kitfoxes - and unsurprisingly bending them.
Francis Donaldson (PFA's Chief Engineer) advises anybody buying a Kitfox to first of all to get some training on a Thruster TST (the original 3-axis microlight trainer, and a taildragger), and that seems to work in preventing anybody hitting problems. There is also the PFA's coaching scheme to give you a type conversion - I think that if you avail yourself of either or both of those options, it should present you with a pleasant and cheap little flying machine that shouldn't frighten you at-all.
G